Bill writes:
Bill wrote:

When I first started coming to the Wreck, a little before I "got
interested" in shop renovation, Lew helped me formulate the idea of
making a 6-7 foot workbench top by glueing together, face-to-face, a
bunch of 2-by dimensional lumber (SYP, 2by10s, ripped in half).

Being naive, I almost believed my glue-ups would be almost as nice as my
pictures. Now, being more familiar with jointers, I fear
"near-disaster", if I don't joint at one edge (which will end up on the
top) and the faces too. I have been encouraged to run glue-ups of 4
boards, say, through my planer, and I can see how that could help, but I
can see how things could work out a whole lot better if all of the
boards went through a jointer first, before and after glueing--not that
I have one.

Bill


Just curious, who would recommend me to use (or not use) a jointer for
this project (thinking the process and results would be better)?

If the only thing you plan on ever building is your workbench, forget
about the jointer and borrow a hand plane from someone.

If you plan on building cabinets or furniture, a jointer would be a
nice addition to your shop.

For most people, a 6 inch jointer suffices.

A used stanley #4, #5 and #7 would also suffice, albeit require a
learning curve.